fil manley profile picture

fil manley

the prince of peace, embraced the gloom and walked the night alone.

About Me


i'm an aging techno-hippie, who doesn't care as much anymore about the height, width, or breadth of anything which doesn't either make peace or help people. I've learned the hard way that everything i do is vanity and that the best that i'll ever accomplish through my own strength amounts to nothing more than dirty rags. i spend my life trying to find pockets of illumination.
i'm currently working non profit thing called help for humans which is my effort to turn a simple desire to help people into a worldwide movement, using nothing but raw cunning and self aggrandizement.
I'm an anti-social, oversexed misfit who fits in well with computer geeks, trekkies, outdoorsy tree hugggers, grateful deadhead patchouli stinkers, pissed off lesbians, alaskan separatists, dark introverts, hopeless idealists, touchy, self-important musicians, wounded natives, jesus freaks, people with lots of tattoos and piercings, girls who don't shave their legs, rescue squad workers and non-violent protesters.
i'm an expert at self promotion, but not so good at creating wealth.
i like long walks on the beach, staring at the stars, driving with my lights off on the big island while being chased by the police, hot-wiring steam rollers in the dead of night, standing beside the top of the waterfall until my knees stop shaking so I can jump off, sneaking out on the bridge at night while it's under construction to take pictures, setting up the telescope and watching saturn all night, drinking wine, red or white, hopefully from a bottle with a cork, not a box, playing guitar badly, or goodly, depending on how i'm doing at any given moment, writing embarrassing songs, using free media coverage to change politics of government using their own rules, greed and machinery, learning more about everything a little at a time, wikipedia, walking in cemetaries at night or during the day, sneaking backstage, getting thrown out, then doing it again, taking pictures which move people, hearing / writing / playing music or fiction which touches people, planting things and watching them grow and prayer.i have a goofy family name which i didn't choose and which i'm divided about. i've wanted to change it for years but i'm also strangely attatched too it, and when people hear it, they never forget it.
i'm a romantic sentimentalist with a short tolerance for bullshit, but a sometimes manic way of stumbling into it.
i'm on a journey from a mentality of 'its comes from me' to 'im a conduit through which it flows.' hopefully 'it' is a good thing.
i believe that we're all just a breath away from eternity and i try to use my time in a way which recognizes that fact.
i believe that christ is the corner of the circle which is the trinity of god, made up of father, son and holy spirit. i live my life in the pursuit of understanding and interpreting this belief daily in my own life. I recognize the fact that your beliefs may differ from mine and i don't begrudge you that fact. The bible says that we should each work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
I've been writing concert reviews and taking photos for The Chattanoogan for about a year and a half. I've been to two Bonnaroos,, The Echo Project, and lots of miscellaneous shows. I've co-written one article for Jambase.com. Click here to see my photos of Radiohead, Tom Petty, Trey Anastasio, Beck, Widespread Panic, The Flaming Lips, The Police, The White Stripes, Mute Math, Ben Harper, Oliver Charles, The Killers, Did I say Widespread Panic? the Egg, Rabbit in the Moon, Clutch, Tea Leaf Green, Sound Tribe Sector 9 and whoever else can tolerate my camera and my questions. oh and can't forget one of my favorite bands perpetual groove.
I'm glad to be alive. I'm grateful for everything I have. I'm grateful for all of my fantastic friends and in lots of other ways. I feel blessed to have a job where I don't have to sit in a cubicle all day.
I'm just digging life and being grateful for everything.
I'm a musician and I write songs, play guitar (12 string) and sing Karaoke with gusto.
I love all kinds of music, it just has to move me. I have a music profile but I'm not telling you what it is..


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My Interests

I'd like to meet:



Movies:

i like tons of movies

Television:

i like lots of tv shows

Books:

Dune, Tales of Alvin Maker, Bonfire of the Vanities, Paradise...

Heroes:

God, Christ, Mom, Dad, Oliver, Clara, Katie, Jonah, Tyke, Betty, Jeff, Heather

My Blog

A Prayer Before Dying

I've got this friend named Michael who lives here in Chattanooga, who is 26 years old and who has cancer of the sort that you're not supposed to recover from. I read the following article a long time ...
Posted by fil manley on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:13:00 PST

Michael Franti Interview Article

Michael Franti on Non-Profit Work, Technology and War This article is co-published on http://www.helpforhumans.org &http://www.chattanoogan.comIn October, I was fortunate to have the opportunity t...
Posted by fil manley on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:28:00 PST

Narcissism 4

All of us have something to hide, some baggage we carry, its fear, shame, some desire we would rather not have.  All of us have our ghosts who travel with us.  Suicide is a ghost, sexual imm...
Posted by fil manley on Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:36:00 PST

Big Lebowski Movie Quote

                                    &n...
Posted by fil manley on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:02:00 PST

Cigarette Ingredients / A - Z

Thanks Pah'ko, for this list of everything that is in those cigarettes.  Not telling anyone what to do, just trying to be an informative friend... A* Acetanisole* Acetic Acid* Acetoin* Acetopheno...
Posted by fil manley on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:03:00 PST

Narcissism 3

It seems i'm ceaselessly tempted in this life. I'm wondering if temptation is just another form of boredom. I heard it said once that boredom is a sin. it's our way of telling god that what we've bee...
Posted by fil manley on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:13:00 PST

Narcissism 2

I'm sitting, sweating, listening to 'blackstar' by radiohead and being lost in this echoey part of myself which is on the lawn right before they played on the big stage at bonnaroo two years ago. tha...
Posted by fil manley on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:11:00 PST

Our Deepest Fear

Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are p...
Posted by fil manley on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:14:00 PST

I liked this so much, I stole it. Post on Stress...

Stress A lecturer explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked "How heavy is this glass of water?" The answers ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "...
Posted by fil manley on Thu, 31 May 2007 04:20:00 PST

narcissim 1

my name is fil, fil with an "f".  I always spell it with lower case letters.  it was my grandmothers maiden name and somehow it became my first name.  i want to change it, because ...
Posted by fil manley on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 03:45:00 PST